Phish - April 22nd, 2022

An extended take on the usual outro drifts into a hypnotic haze which Trey cuts through with melodic leads, buoyed by ample synthesizer and "Quadrophonic Toppling" quotes.

Effortless. Path of least resistance. Call it what you will, but few songs of late (and "SYSF" is a cool song, as is) offer more by way of "invitation" to pure, effortless jamming. Tune in around 9:15 for some sonic shimmer so lovely that "Happy Birthday" feels like a natural extension, a before and an after. From here Trey and Fish sync up, the improvisation seemingly calculated, or locked in - a sound, in times, reminiscent of the last big "Taste" explored in the Garden. An organism. Content to let it grow, Trey and Fish (listen to him splash away) team to work through incredibly introspective scattershot play that builds and builds, Page hammering on his piano, Mike in tow, before releasing sound arriving in a cool, whitewashed glow - an outro which, artfully tended, becomes the wonderful groundwork for a > into a magic "Light."

Drifts into some sweet major-key jamming before Fish goes calypso mode and the band hits on a really danceable groove. Trey then switches his playing to "anthemic" mode, and the band hits on a powerful "Roll With The Changes"-esque jam. Very powerful music. > into an equally fantastic "Fuego".

Charming in-song moment as Trey snickers over the "world's greatest dad" line (it was his daughter Bella's birthday). The song itself is shaky, but after some regularly strong "Fuego" jamming Trey starts laying on some very thick riffs as Mike maneuvers the jam into choppier waters, then the bottom drops out and an ambient, almost industrial jam emerges, with effects flying everywhere and Fishman thundering away 12/30/12 "Carini" style. > into "WTU?".

An extremely efficient jam that concisely hits on a lot of sweet mini-movements beginning with a bubbly major groove at 4:20. Later returns to minor tonality with an edge and Trey finds a nice descending theme.

Writer @waxbanks one said "Tweezer" is Phish's "Dark Star." Agree or disagree, he had a way with words. Agree or disagree, it's tough to argue that "Melt," of late, has assumed a musical form, like Dead jamming, tricky to articulate. Perhaps a moment more significant thematically than musically - kelp descended from above the band during the song, and fell to the stage after the song, and set, was over. Or: Another spacey foray absent tension and release, music interested in sonic exploration and waves of possibility.